Maryland Targeting 2014 PG Romelo Trimble

Now that 2014 point guard prospect Romelo Trimble, from Bishop O'Connell HS in VA, has received an offer from Maryland and attended Maryland Madness, the Terrapins appear to be one of the teams in hot pursuit of the Virginia prospect.

The 6'3, 180 pound guard has picked up offers from Cincinnati, Xavier, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Miami and George Mason, and is ranked 56th on Scout.com's top 75 players of 2014. Trimble got to see the College Park campus October 12 when he went to the team's season tip-off event.

I really liked [Maryland Madness], Trimble said. I had only been to Rutgers and Georgetown before that, so it was cool to see College Park. Everybody was really into it.

Trimble's relationship with the Terrapins was born largely out of his participation with local AAU team DC Assault. Maryland Assistant Coach Dalonte Hill is known for tapping into his DC Assault roots for recruiting purposes, and he has taken the lead in Trimble's recruitment so far.

Maryland got a commitment from Baltimore product Roddy Peters, another DC Assault player, for the 2013 class, and Trimble said that though he's known and played against Peters for years, it doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship will weigh heavily on his decision.

We have a good relationship, Trimble said of Peters. I've played against him a lot, and I've always wanted to play with him. I was happy when he committed [to Maryland], but it doesn't mean that I'll pick Maryland [just] because he did.

Ultimately Trimble said that he's looking for a program where can fit in and get an opportunity. The track record would look good for Coach Mark Turgeon in that case, since freshman guard Seth Allen has logged major minutes this season. Turgeon also had sophomore guard Nick Faust play several minutes at point guard as a freshman. As for this year's team, Trimble acknowledged aspects of their game that he likes.

I like the way they play, Trimble said. Everybody steps up and they all play hard; it's a great program.

The Terps have gotten off to a 5-1 start and were recently listed second in ESPN's ACC Power Rankings behind Duke. Despite the early success, the major story around Maryland athletics is the conference move to the Big Ten, and Trimble, who told the Baltimore Sun a week ago that he was disappointed with the move, seems to have warmed on the Big Ten.

To me the Big Ten is as good if not better than the ACC, Trimble said. It doesn't really matter to me though; [NBA Lottery pick] Damian Lillard made it to the NBA out of a smaller league, so it doesn't really matter what conference you play in.

For now, Trimble said he's working on his shooting, ball skills, and leadership to prep for his senior year and the college game. And while it's still early, Trimble listed his current top five schools as Maryland, Xavier, Cincinnati, Rutgers and Miami.